michaelc; thank you for the PM polite request for directed info to get up to speed with your new SQ. To this end Keith’s white paper “Levels & Metering in QU & SQ” is to the point and very informative. Pay particular attention to;
1) Optimal signal levels & head room
2) Different DBs
3) What do the meters show
4) What do the Peak (PK) indicators show
A clear understanding of the DB ceiling difference between analog and digital metering is essential to appropriate gain staging. The initial XLR input from your mic is an analog signal and a zero may be the optimal target in an all analog world: but please remember that signal, if compromised by any significant DB input surge, will not be appropriately converted to digital info. The random nature of dynamic range with some performers is very difficult to predict so for many reasons I will generally pay a great deal of attention to the initial individual channel gain setting and the (PK) led for overshoots. For many real world reasons most of my initial gain settings are @ 75% to 85% of the optimal analog zero setting on my SQ. I also follow the (PK) meters on the main outputs but for different reasons.
Hugh
